And why does this man not charge for his time?  Professional technicians sell
time.  Once again, I must bring up the Doctor/Auto technician analogy.  When
was the last time a doctor diagnosed anything for free?  And while I can
certainly see crediting the charges for a complete diagnosis toward a repair
or having some similar arrangement to encourage business, I feel your
technician deserves to be paid for his expertise and experience.  Remember
the story about the repairman restarting the factory with a tap of the hammer
and charging $15000?

<< My local vw mechanic ( that I have became friends with) and I were talking
 the other day about the amount of times he does estimates, etc....for free.
 Often times he does not get the work, for he is very thorough, and will not
 do a halfway job. >>